With every step that Anthony Edwards takes towards the absolute top echelon of NBA players, the more the hearts of Golden State Warriors' fans break a little more.
The Warriors were so close, just one pick away from the chance of selecting Edwards in the 2020 NBA Draft. The franchise instead ended up with James Wiseman, a pick that's resulted as one of the worst draft misses in recent NBA history.
Bad luck rather than bad management is to blame for the Golden State Warriors missing out on Anthony Edwards at the 2020 NBA Draft
While both Golden State and Wiseman (most recently a Detroit Piston) have already begun what's an uncertain offseason, Edwards was again leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a second-straight road victory over the reigning champion Denver Nuggets in the second-round of the playoffs.
Edwards' last four playoff games have yielded 36, 40, 43 and 27-point performances, each of which have come on greater than 52% shooting from the floor. At just 22-years-old, he's already one of the league's best players and appears destined for more than a decade of dominance to come.
Edwards' recent explosion has sprung a resurface of the Warriors' thoughts prior to the draft, and specifically a report from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman that claims the franchise may not have taken Edwards at two even if the 6'4" guard were available.
"Teams are worried about Edwards' drive and enthusiasm for winning, and according to a source, the Golden State Warriors aren't a likely landing spot due to these concerns."Jonathan Wasserman
This quote has only added to the frustration of Warrior fans, believing that the franchise completely misread not only the Wiseman selection, but also too the forecast of who Edwards was going to become.
However, the franchise shouldn't be blamed for the fact Edwards isn't producing huge playoff performances in a Golden State jersey rather than a Minnesota one. It's luck that was against the Warriors in relation to the draft lottery and the fact they didn't get the first overall pick despite winning four less games than any other team that season.
Had the Warriors had access to drafting Edwards and passed on him, then sure that's an enormous, even more franchise-defining blunder than the Wiseman pick has turned out to be. But we shouldn't hold them to account for what is ultimately a hypothetical, a pre-draft report that ultimately never got the chance to play out in reality.